


adore you

by orphan_account



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Blackwatch, Blackwatch Era, Blackwatch Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, Fluff, Implied Smut, Lovers to Friends, M/M, Pre-Fall of Overwatch, Pre-Overwatch, Soldier Enhancement Program, Soldier Enhancement Program Era, Strike-Commander Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:46:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23662546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Why was Jack Morrison spending hours in an arcade when he was about to become a super soldier?Well, he couldn’t imagine that super soldiers had much time to go play video games. He had already said goodbye to his family and had one last day to himself so - arcade. Why not?(au where jack and gabe meet outside of the military/sep)
Relationships: Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Comments: 3
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

Why was Jack Morrison spending hours in an arcade when he was about to become a super soldier?

Well, he couldn’t imagine that super soldiers had much time to go play video games. He had already said goodbye to his family and had one last day to himself so - arcade. Why not?

Jack avoided the shooter games. He figured he’d have enough of that pretty soon. 

He found himself at one of the skee ball games. He realized that maybe he should have brought someone along, because even though he was excited to enter the enhancement program, it scared him, too. And mindlessly throwing a ball up a ramp wasn’t exactly helping to distract him. 

“You’re pretty good at that.”

Jack had almost jumped out of his skin. The last thing he expected was for someone to talk to him. He whipped around and found a dark-skinned man with a short goatee. He had almost black hair that was shaved on the sides and that fell down just above his eyes. Jack first noticed his ruggedly handsome face but then noticed his clothes - his tight clothes. His tight, ripped black jeans that tightly hugged his thighs. 

What was Jack supposed to say to that? He tried to say ‘thanks’ but nothing came out so he just stood there, red-faced, sputtering like an idiot. 

The man laughed, snapping Jack out of his trance. “You come here often?” he asked playfully, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he walked closer. Jack didn’t know if it was a genuine question or not but he decided to treat it as such. 

“Um. Not really,” he said, avoiding the man’s eyes. People didn’t usually make him this nervous. “I just had a day to myself.”

He leaned against the second skee ball game next to Jack. “Mind if I join in? A little friendly competition?”

“Sure,” Jack said with a shrug, letting himself relax, “but I hope you know this is no joke. I’m a world-renowned skee ball player- uh, especially since I never come to the arcade.”

The man grinned at him and the look in his eyes made Jack’s insides twist. 

“You’re on.”

And self-proclaimed world-renowned skee ball player Jack Morrison was destroyed at the game by a stranger. 

Jack covered his face after the third game he had lost. “I have something to admit,” he said slowly. “I’m not really a world-renowned skee ball player.”

The man gasped, clasping a hand over his chest. “No!” he said sarcastically, and one word from him dissolved Jack into a fit of giggles. “I don’t believe it.”

“It’s true,” Jack said through laughter, “but I’m just so good that some don’t notice.”

The man paused, turning over Jack’s words in his head. “Wait- if you _were_ really good, wouldn’t you actually be a world-renowned-”

Jack held a finger to the man’s lips, getting a lot closer to him than he expected himself too, but he grinned at him so Jack let himself relax. “Shh. We don’t need to get into the specifics. Plus, you told me earlier that I was good at it,” Jack said, feigning offense. “Was that all a lie?”

“I thought you were good at first, but I guess I forgot my own skills. You’re nothing in comparison.” Jack snorted and rolled his eyes. “Gabriel,” he said as Jack lowered his hand. Jack blinked. 

“Huh?”

“My name’s Gabriel.”

“Oh.” Jack’s face lit up bright red. “I’m Jack.”

Gabriel pressed his hand against one of the chutes where the balls came out. He suddenly got very close to Jack, so close that Jack could feel his breath on his jaw, and Jack froze. “You know, since you’re a professional and all,” Gabriel said slowly, “I think you deserve special treatment.” His low rasp sent a shiver down Jack’s spine. “Why don’t you take it easy and stay with me tonight? I’ll take care of you.”

Jack was silent for a while and Gabriel bit his lip and backed up, looking hesitant. Like he was worried he overstepped. 

But it was Jack’s last day to himself. 

How could he say no?

•

Jack didn’t think he’d ever see Gabriel again. Which made him sad, actually, because he had grown to really like him. No one had ever made Jack feel things like that with just a smile. 

Gabriel pampered him. Gabriel treated him like royalty. Gabriel made him feel comfortable and wanted. He couldn’t say that any other stranger he had met while playing skee ball had made him feel like that. 

Jack had woken up in the middle of the night, plagued with nightmares of all the death he had already seen, and usually, he didn’t fall back asleep after that. But this time he woke up in Gabriel’s arms and Gabriel pulled him closer to his chest and Jack fell back asleep and slept like a baby. It was embarrassing to admit to himself that he didn’t want to leave. 

But they both had places to be. Jack couldn’t tell Gabriel where he was going because the SEP was top secret - and maybe that was for the best. He shouldn’t get attached to Gabriel because he wouldn’t be able to keep him. 

Jack was finally distracted, but it wasn’t at the right time. When he was supposed to be thinking about the program, he was thinking about Gabriel. He was thinking about Gabriel as he lined up with the other soldiers. He was thinking about Gabriel as he peered down the line of soldiers-

And he was thinking about Gabriel when he saw him standing fifty-two soldiers away. 

Jack stared at him, wide-eyed, until Gabriel met his gaze. Gabriel looked shocked for a while - then his mouth closed to form a smile, then a smirk. 

So maybe Jack could get a little attached. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack bit his lip, turning his words over in his head. “I want you,” he said, “but not like this. I want the emotion and stuff too, not just the sex.”

At the first chance of privacy they got, Gabriel grabbed Jack and pushed him up against the wall, attaching his mouth to his. 

“Wait,” Jack mumbled against his lips. Gabriel pulled away but he moved away too much, so Jack grabbed his shirt and pulled him back against his body. He wanted- _needed_ to talk about this, but he craved Gabriel’s touch, too. “I don’t want it to be like this.”

Gabriel blinked. “Huh?”

Jack bit his lip, turning his words over in his head. “I want you,” he said, “but not like this. I want the emotion and stuff too, not just the sex.” 

Gabriel placed his arm against the wall above Jack’s head. “So you want to be my boyfriend?” He slipped a hand under Jack’s chin and leaned down, pressing a kiss to Jack’s jaw. Jack put a hand on his chest but didn’t push him away, biting his lip to hide a grin. “You want to be all lovey dovey and talk about our feelings and shit?” Jack could feel him smiling against his skin. 

“Yeah,” Jack mumbled, sliding a hand down the back of Gabriel’s neck. “We can hold hands and cuddle. After the sex, of course.”

Gabriel laughed. “I like the way you think.”

•

And so Jack had a boyfriend. A secret boyfriend that he didn’t know too well. But he knew that Gabriel could smile at him from across the room and it would make Jack’s whole day. He knew that when the chemicals were giving Jack hell, Gabriel would get to Jack’s room as fast as he could and rub his back and make him laugh.

It had to be secret, Jack had decided. If anyone else knew, it could affect both of them and their spots in the program. They could be treated differently. 

Gabriel meant a lot to Jack (which was scary, since they barely knew each other) but he didn’t want to jeopardize his position in the SEP, so he had to find a way to make both work. Which meant hiding their relationship. 

Jack wrestled with himself about it a lot. He felt guilty about hiding it. He wondered what would happen if everyone knew. He wondered if it would be better for his career to just be friends with Gabriel. 

But Gabriel would flash him a smile and he knew he couldn’t do that. So he kept things the same. Gabriel kissed him and he forgot about the guilt, forgot about the what-ifs. 

He just wished he could figure out what Gabriel was thinking. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel was so, so happy, but he was so, so scared.

Gabriel was obsessed with him. 

Jack was perfect. Jack, with his sharp jaw and soft blue eyes like a cloudless sky. Jack, with his thick blonde hair that sat perfectly, never obscuring his face, and freckles that littered his cheeks and his shoulders from all the time he spent in the sun. Jack, with his bright grin that made Gabriel feel warm inside. Jack, with his calloused hands that touched Gabriel like he was an artifact. Jack was perfect. 

Gabriel was so, so happy, but he was so, so scared. 

Because he had never felt like this for anyone. And he was terrified of getting hurt. He was afraid that he’d open up to Jack and Jack would make him regret it. 

So he had to close himself off. He had to play it off, pretend he was cool and relaxed, without a care in the world. 

But he realized soon that the very person he put up the façade for was the one who saw right through it. He pretended like he didn’t care but Jack knew he cared more than most. 

It was terrifying, how easily he saw him. But it gave him hope. Let him believe that maybe, he could trust Jack, and just Jack. Maybe Jack wouldn’t hurt him. Maybe he could rely on him and be open and honest and talk about his emotions, as Jack wanted. 

But for the most part, he tried to detach himself from the complicated details. He focused on Jack and not on himself or his feelings. Jack and his jaw and his eyes and his hair and his freckles. 

Oh, and Jack, who was suddenly very hot. 

Not to say he wasn’t hot before. But maybe it would have been more accurate to call him cute. The flustered, skinny kid that Gabriel had met in the arcade - he was cute. 

The self-confident, muscled man that Gabriel saw every day in the SEP was _hot_. He had certainly gained more confidence after knowing Gabriel for a while which - sure, that was great, but it felt like Jack was taking Gabriel’s confidence away. Gabriel was the one who had made the first move and now Gabriel felt a lump in his throat every time Jack took his shirt off. 

“How the hell did it happen?” Gabriel found himself asking. He sat on Jack’s bed while Jack pulled on a shirt, watching the way his back arched and the front of his waistband slipped down as if it were teasing him. 

Jack glanced over at him. “How did what happen?”

“I was the one who initiated us banging, right?” 

Jack’s lips quirked up. “Might not have happened if I didn’t destroy you at skee ball.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ. ‘World-renowned skee ball player’ my ass.” Jack grinned. “It’s flipped now, though. You used to be all cute and blushy and shit and now you just have to stand there with your massive pecs”-Jack snickered at that-“and chiseled abs and I’m the one who’s blushy and shit.”

Jack quirked a brow at him. Gabriel sighed, already regretting saying anything. Jack had an ego that fed itself. He did not need to contribute. “Is it a problem?”

“Definitely not,” Gabriel said, probably too quickly. “It’s just annoying.”

“Well, I’ll try to..tone the hotness down.” Jack leaned over him and Gabriel could feel his breath against his lips as he spoke. Jack slipped a hand under his shirt, sliding it up Gabriel’s chest. 

“Fuck you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Shut up.”

“Make me.”

“ _Stop_.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I think I love you,” Gabriel whispered, and Jack could hear so much in one sentence.

Jack’s fingers fumbled on the door handle. He finally pushed the door open and the two stumbled in, Jack’s arms thrown over Gabriel’s shoulders and Gabriel’s arms around Jack’s waist. They fell onto the bed, kisses tasting like alcohol. 

Gabriel cradled the side of Jack’s face. Jack broke the kiss and slid down onto his stomach, wrapping one arm around his waist. He pulled up Gabriel’s shirt and pressed a messy kiss to his abdomen. “You know,” Jack said, gaze sliding up to meet Gabriel’s, “I’m a professional at more than skee ball.” He wiggled his eyebrows and Gabriel burst into laughter. 

“Shut up,” Gabriel said playfully, acting like he was going to shove Jack but ended up only tapping his cheekbone. He grabbed his shirt and pulled him up into another kiss, but Jack pulled away again and kissed Gabriel’s knuckles, kissed up his arm. His lips lingered on Gabriel’s neck. 

“You’re wonderful,” Jack mumbled. Gabriel went silent as Jack kissed up his jaw but Jack didn’t notice anything until he felt his skin shaking under his lips. He jerked his head back so he could see Gabriel’s face and- it must be Jack’s worst nightmare, he realized. Gabriel’s beautiful browns were full of tears. Jack gasped, grabbing his face. “What happened? Are you okay?” 

“You’re perfect,” Gabriel managed, tears slipping down his cheeks. Jack hurriedly wiped them away with his thumb. 

“..That makes you sad?”

“You deserve better than me.”

Jack went silent, dumbfounded. “..You really think that?” he asked. His thoughts were scrambled but he knew both that Gabriel was very incorrect and that this was very out of character for him. He wondered if Gabriel was finally opening up or if it was just the alcohol talking. 

“I can’t give you what you want,” Gabriel said, avoiding his gaze. He shook his head, pouting childishly. “I get scared and I close off. You deserve better. You deserve everything.”

“I don’t want everything,” Jack said, forcing him to meet his eyes. “I want you.”

There was a beat of silence before Gabriel finally cracked a grin. “That’s so cheesy.”

Jack rolled his eyes and shoved him onto his back on the bed, kissing the corner of his mouth. “It made you smile, didn’t it?”

“Everything you say makes me smile.”

“Now who’s the cheesy one?”

Jack pulled back and let his body slip between Gabriel’s legs, resting his head on his chest. He listened to Gabriel’s heartbeat and closed his eyes, focusing on the feeling of Gabriel sliding a thumb back and forth across his cheek. 

“I think I love you,” Gabriel whispered, and Jack could hear so much in one sentence. He could hear the fear, he could hear how terrified Gabriel was at the idea of opening up to someone, especially to this level. But he could hear optimism, excitement that this might be something worth opening up for. Jack pushed himself back up, looking Gabriel in the eyes. 

“I  _ know _ I love you.” Gabriel smiled but Jack watched in terror as the tears started to resurface. “No, no, don’t cry again,” he said, hands flying back to touch Gabriel’s face, and Gabriel laughed as he clasped a hand over Jack’s. 

“They’re happy tears, I promise.” 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Put away your work,” Gabriel said, waving a hand at him. “We’re going on a date.”

_ years later _

“Hey.”

Jack rubbed his eyes and looked up from the glaring screens. Gabriel stood in front of him, leaning against the doorframe.

“Put away your work,” Gabriel said, waving a hand at him. “We’re going on a date.”

“What?”

Jack didn’t seem like he was planning on getting up until he got an explanation so Gabriel made his way over to his desk, pulling him up from his chair.

“Go get changed. We’re going on a date. You deserve a break, Strike Commander.”

•

The ball rolled up the ramp, jumped into the air-

and fell into the gutter.

Jack grinned. “What was that?”

“I can’t beat the pro, can I?” 

Jack’s grin slipped as he turned to face Gabriel, who was leaning against the skee ball machine and watching him. “You’re throwing the game?”

“Not throwing. I’m letting you win. Because you deserve it. There’s a difference.”

And just like that, Jack’s smile resurfaced. He closed the distance between them, one hand moving to touch Gabriel’s jaw. “I don’t think there’s a difference,” he said.

“There’s definitely a difference.”

Gabriel tilted his head to the side and kissed Jack soft and slow. Kisses like that were rare for them; their relationship wasn’t soft and slow, it was hard and fast, and kisses usually weren’t much different. Gabriel hooked an arm around his torso and Jack melted against him, pressing his face into the crook of Gabriel’s neck.

“Thank you,” he mumbled. “I needed this.”

“I know.” He felt Gabriel run his fingers through Jack’s hair. “You don’t have to keep it all to yourself, you know. I’m here for you.”

Jack straightened his back, kissing him again. His lips lingered on Gabriel’s for a while as he pondered what to say. “I love you,” he decided.

“Love you too.”

Gabriel released him and Jack put about a foot of distance between them, as much as it pained him to do so. It was mostly inspired by the kid staring at them a couple feet away.

“You might be cute,” Jack said, picking up a ball from the chute on the machine, “and very distracting, but I swear I’ll beat you, Reyes.”

And looking back and forth between Gabriel and the game, Jack wondered what would have happened if he had never decided to take a day for himself and go to the arcade. Or if he had gone to the arcade but Gabriel hadn’t. Would they end up in the same place? Would they see each other in the SEP and still fall for each other?

Or would they never notice each other? Would they just stay friends? 

Jack didn’t like that idea. 

So as much as he sucked at the game, he certainly was grateful for it. 

Gabriel grinned, crossing his arms and training his eyes on Jack. “You’re on.”   


_ end _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading <3


End file.
